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Rental Task Force recommendations to be addressed
In addressing the recommendations of the provincial Rental Housing Task Force, the B.C. government is moving ahead immediately with increased public education and bolstered enforcement to better protect the rights of both renters and landlords.
“To make renting work better for everyone, we need to make sure both renters and landlords know their rights under the law and have a place to go when there’s an issue with those rights,” said Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “Housing is the foundation of people’s lives. We want to create a rental market where there are no surprises, renters and landlords are treated fairly and there is better security for both sides.”
All of the task force recommendations will be addressed through three phases. Immediate Phase 1 actions focus on better public education, enhanced enforcement and improved co-ordination with local governments to address specific issues in their communities, including renovictions.
Public Education: The goal is to provide improved awareness for renters and landlords on their rights and responsibilities, which will reduce the number of cases ending up in arbitration.
This enhanced public education will be supported through new funding to Landlord BC and the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre. Additional public education will focus on rules around renovictions, including new policy guidelines introduced last year, to help clarify the many situations when ending a tenancy would be unnecessary or illegal, and the limited situations when a rental unit needs to be vacant for renovations.
Enforcement: Responding to concerns, the province has created a new compliance and enforcement unit within the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) to investigate complaints and take action against landlords and renters who are repeat or serious offenders. The new team has 21 active investigations and recently issued its first administrative penalty against a landlord.
Co-ordination: A new local government liaison position has been created within the RTB to help resolve issues that involve a role for both local government and the RTB, such as illegal renovictions and demovictions. The position will support communities in tackling the challenges unique to their situation.
“Renters and landlords told us that, in many cases, problems could have been avoided if people had known their rights and responsibilities,” said MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, chair of the Rental Housing Task Force and Premier’s advisor on residential tenancy. “They also told us enforcement was key, as there are people who knowingly break the laws, and only strong enforcement will stop them. I’m glad to see the minister has heard these concerns and taken action to increase enforcement of the law, improve access to the Residential Tenancy Branch to ensure people know their rights and responsibilities, closed loopholes that were driving up rents and evictions, and capped annual rent increases to the rate of inflation. I’m glad to hear the minister is now working to make further improvements to make renting more fair and secure for everyone.”
Building on the Phase 1 actions underway, Phase 2 work will include further actions by the end of 2019. Recommendations that require legislative changes, additional resources, stakeholder consultations or policy work, such as rental restrictions in strata units, will be considered as part of Phase 3, with actions to come in 2020.
These steps build on long-overdue investments in the RTB that are beginning to address service concerns reported by the task force. For example, call wait times are now down to five minutes, well below the 45-minute average in 2017. The branch has also started recording information calls and is developing a new case management system to streamline its processes.
“LandlordBC is excited to support the Province in its efforts to educate landlords about their rights and responsibilities as, in our experience, education is the best way to ensure secure, positive tenancies for both tenants and landlords. LandlordBC looks forward to working with the Province to balance the impacts of renovations on renters with investing in the health and safety of the critically important homes we provide B.C. families,” said David Hutniak, chief executive officer, LandlordBC .
“TRAC is extremely pleased to receive this funding. As a provincial leader in tenant education, we plan to use these funds to develop quality legal resources and deliver face-to-face services to some of our province’s most vulnerable populations. Tenants will have a chance to learn about their rights and responsibilities under BC’s Residential Tenancy Act, particularly the rules around illegal renovictions that can threaten security of tenure. Proactive education, along with increased rental supply and enhanced legal protections, will go a long way towards addressing B.C.’s current rental housing crisis,” added Andrew Sakamoto, executive director, Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (TRAC).
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